Tag Archives: photography

The beginning of the beginning

Hello everyone.

There are exactly 5 full months between April and October. Did you know that? I did. I do.

First, let me say, I can’t believe people are still visiting my blog even tho it is very clearly neglected. A big thanks to all of you that come check it out even tho it’s barely alive and breathing!

Second, I’m just dropping by to say that the moment before I logged into my blog, I was working on my website for katiemauerphotography.com. That’s right, I’m finally doing it. It took a year. Or more. Probably more. But I made a promise to a bride, and I can’t break that promise. So in the next few weeks, expect it to be up and running. I’ll be tweaking it until the day the internet dies, so please bear with me as I make a mess of things and eventually clean them up.

And another big thanks to everyone out there who has encouraged me, told me they like one or two or all of my photos, told me I could make a living at it, pushed me, bugged me, made me uncomfortable, and overall supported me (and continue to support me). I have a tendency to doubt my abilities and talk myself out of things because I’m afraid to fail, but you’ve all been there with me, telling me I can do it and helping me to believe in myself. And you guys are the ones that I will blame if all of this ends up falling down around me. :) Just kidding.

Maybe.


Oh here I am.

Hi everyone. As you’ve probably noticed, I may or may not have taken a small (4 month) hiatus from posting anything. I’m not going to make excuses or even offer an explanation, but just know that I’ve missed you.

I’m sitting in the San Diego commuter terminal as I write this. Snooping around, listening to peoples’ conversations (the lady next to me is meowing into her cell phone…), unfairly judging horrible travel outfits. I’m about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime. This flight is going to take me to LA, the next to Houston, and after that, Buenos Aires, Argentina and finally Cordoba, Argentina. Hey thieves, try my condo, I won’t be home and I have lots of electronics!

My brother and A2 (the girlfriend) are currently waiting for my mom and me to arrive in Cordoba in a couple of days. They’ve been down there for something ridiculous – like three weeks – now and have been doing and seeing and eating their way around South America.

Truth be told, I really need this trip. I’ve had a bit of a heavy and rocky start to 2011 and could use a little adventure to escape the reality of every day life for a bit. My personal life has been flipped upside down and slammed on it’s head, and I’m at the point where I could really use a reward for keeping my shit together and not absolutely losing my mind. So here you go, Me. Go see Argentina.

While I’m there, I’ll be eating, seeing, talking, laughing, jumping out of planes (I KNOW!), and thoroughly enjoying. You’re jealous, I can sense it. But in the meantime, take a look at what’s been happening since we last visited.

1217---nick-graduates-03-s4w
Nick graduated!

1217---nick-graduates-07-s4w
I was there to witness it.

1224---oh-christmas-tree-s4w
Christmas happened.

0101---this-can't-be-good-2-s4w
The fire department paid a visit.

0116 - sunset s4w
I saw an amazing sunset.

0108---syrah-04-s4w
My mom came to visit and we ate dessert.

0115---wine-tasting-05-s4w
A whole bunch of us went wine tasting.

0121---14-firetrucks-s4w
Downtown exploded! Not really, but there were 14 fire trucks out one night.

0127---street-art-s4w
San Diego got some new street art.

0128---np-mural-s4w
Here too.

0226---do-it-yourself-truck-s4w
I went to a car swap meet & saw this fixer upper.

0219---laura's-king-cake-s4w
Laura made an amazing King’s Cake. She also got married.

0214---heart-shaped-valentine-s4w
I got a rose shaped like a heart for Valentine’s Day.

0211---art-that's-as-jarring-s4w
data
I did NOT get to go to this, but it would have been awesome, I bet.

0210---valentine's-day-art-s4w
I got these for Valentine’s Day from my parents, and I’m not done eating them yet. They’re too pretty.


I am thankful for…

Dear lovely readers,

I am deeply sorry for my prolonged absence from your blog-reading lives since my last post about becoming famous. You may have already guessed from the lack of TV appearances that I did not become famous in a week’s time.

However, I do have some rather life changing events about to take place that have been occupying my thoughts, rendering me incapable of producing a quality prose worthy of your time.

And I will be keeping those life changing plans a secret for a little while longer while I give my thoughts some time to become one cohesive plan. But you can have confidence that once I can get those thoughts all heading the same direction, I will reveal exactly what it is I’m babbling about.

In the meantime, in addition to the sporadic postings I do on a whim, I will be adding a more regular feature to my blog. Once a week, most likely on Friday or Saturday, I will be filling all of you in on what I’ve been thankful for that week. Every now and then it’s good to get out of your own head and notice the good and beautiful things that surround you. It’s good to remind yourself of the things that make you smile. (These will be accompanied by pictures, of course).

This week, I am thankful for:

  • New shoes to follow a kind of crummy week, especially when I got an excellent deal on them!
  • Great friends who listen when you need them to, and give advice when you need that too.
  • And a great boyfriend who knows exactly when you need a hug and to veg on the couch and watch endless episodes of Friday Night Lights.
  • Let’s go ahead and put Friday Night Lights on the list too. Love that show. Love Tim Riggins.
  • Hilarious typos that change vernacular. “He’s such an Ashlee!”
  • BEEEEYOOO-tiful southern California sunsets.

All photos (except for the sunset photos) taken with my Droid and processed with the Vignette app.

0808 - new shoes

0808 - me

0806 - view

0806 - flag

0806 - flower

0802---soccer-sunset-2-s4w

0802---soccer-sunset-s4w

0802---soccer-sunset-4-s4w

0802---soccer-sunset-3-s4w


Almost Famous

You guys, I got the best news today! In my little world of photography and obsession, I consider this to be MAY-JAH news!

One of my favorite bloggers is Ree Drummond a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman, and she’s a shade more than famous in my book. She’s been on the Today show a gazillion times, she has published a cookbook, she has a blog that gets TOOOONS of traffic, and she’s a hoot. She runs these photography contests every so often that have themes. And I enter every single one of her contests. None of my photos have ever been picked…UNTIL TODAY! I completely contribute it to the fact that I made her Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta for dinner last night (which is deeeeeelicious…I used shrimp tho). Check me out, you can see it here, 11th picture down.

The theme is “water” and this is probably one of my favorite pictures that I’ve taken. Not because I’m in it, but just because I like it.
0206 - it touches everything

You guys, I am so excited about this! Here’s how I found out. I had been running around at work all morning and I come back to my desk, HOURS after I’ve started my day to see my bestfriendsincetheseconddayofkindergarten had sent me a message:

Tina: HEY! i just saw your picture on PW’s thing!!
me: What?! she chose me?!
Tina: you’re in her group 2
me: YESSSSSSS
Tina: because you’re AMAZING
me: I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!
Tina: i am too! and it’s not even my picture!
me: This is the first time she’s ever picked me! AHHHHH!!!! Yessssss
Tina: congratulations!!! you’re FAMOUS
me: I AM!

So you know, I’m famous now. I’ll be signing autographs for the rest of the day, and then I need to take a break because I’m just sure I’m about to start a world tour and I should probably catch up on sleep while I can.


World Cup Fiasco

If you’re alive in this country, into sports, and love to jump on bandwagons, you know that the World Cup has been going on since June 11th.

I have a friend – Becca – that has been loyal to the USA soccer team for a long time. On Saturday, we met up to watch the USA vs. Ghana game. This is how it went.

0626 - nicky rotten's lamp

We arrived at Nicky Rotten’s on Saturday morning around 10:30 am. Yes, it’s kind of early for being in a bar, but with our past experiences of Gaslamp bars and World Cup games, we knew we’d have to get there early if we wanted to be able to sit and watch the game.

0626 - chooch burger

We casually reviewed the menu of burgers with cute – but stereotypically Italian – descriptions. Da one ita gonna maka bigga messa…did maka bigga messa.

0626 - nicky rottens to start

It was busy for 10:30 in the morning, but surprisingly quiet for a World Cup game.

0626 - nicky rottens fills up

But it filled up quickly. We had arrived just in time to snag some primo seating.

0626 - nicky rottens explodes

And when USA scored their penalty goal, the place erupted!

0626 - the agony of defeat

But alas, their one penalty goal was no match for Ghana’s quick feet, which ultimately lead them to their 2-1 victory over the USA.

0626 - sad becca

Becca was less than pleased. It was as if someone had just killed all her hopes and dreams.

0626 - burger bell

We tried cheering her up with whimsical street finds! “Look, Becca…just for you!” *ring ring* It didn’t work.

0626 - in love with his reflection

Danny tried distracting her with his reflection in the windows above…

0626 - danny gets spilled on

…but that only aggravated her further and she threw a beer into his lap.

0626 - becca thought it was funny

But this did cheer her up, if only for a split second.

0626 - usa

She can be quoted asking, “Sad high-5 for the USA?” to strangers on the street.

USA…

USA…

USA…


don’t worry, be happy

i have started writing this blog three four times so far. let’s hope this is the winner.

i started out complaining about work. then i started with a depressing story of my doctor’s visits. but now i’m going in a whole different direction.

i’m happy to be alive.

with all the things that are going on in the world right now, my problems are kind of insignificant. yes work has been annoying, but everyone has been annoyed by their work at some point in their lives. if they haven’t, then it’s coming soon. i promise. doctors are trying to figure me out medically, but there are people out there dying of incurable diseases. i’m sure whatever is going on with me is pretty tame. so here we go with the happy!

the last time we chatted, i was wishing you all a happy memorial day weekend and was off to palm desert for two days of mini-vacation. it was wonderful. i spent time with danny’s family (i wish my family lived closer!) in a beautiful setting, in beautiful weather, just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. sometimes you’ve just got to get out of your familiar surroundings in order to really relax. we spent hours by the pool, some time eating, and an equal amount of time shopping. there were no chores that needed to be done, no work that needed tending to, no phone calls important enough to distract us from having a great time. it was just what i needed.

i consider myself very lucky to be able to say on a wednesday, “yes, let’s pack up and go to palm desert in a couple of days”. lucky because i have the financial ability and lucky because i live in a state where i can drive two hours and the scenery is completely different from the one i’m escaping. (i know a lot of you are probably rolling your eyes at the fact that i want to escape beautiful san diego…and to that i say…we have airports here too, you know!)

an update on my medical anomalies: the eye is better, still itchy sometimes but i think i’ve just developed some allergies. for the heart, i had to wear a halter monitor for 24 hours on friday/saturday, and today i had to have blood drawn so they could run some labs on it. i will keep you updated as i know more, but i am 97% convinced that it’s allllllllll stress related.

another random update: my 26th birthday is in 17 days! i will be posting a wish list sometime this week! (this does not mean that i’m expecting people to buy them for me. it just means that these are things that would make awesome presents for someone like me)

now please enjoy some pictures i’ve taken since we last sat down to chat.

0605 - new toys
danny’s new toys. the xbox died so he upgraded.

0605 - halter monitor
halter monitor. most annoying device ever. i’m not one to care about looking a little weird in public, but this crossed the line. i did NOT want anyone to see it. so naturally, i took a picture and posted it on my flickr site so i could put it on my blog in the hopes that people would read it. makes perfect sense.

0531 - fireworks
fireworks on memorial day at petco park. this is the view from paul & laura’s place.

0531 - sunshine
sooooo ready to play!

0531 - Danny
danny face.

0531 - huge burger
fatty burgers! DELISH!

0531 - food
food on the barbie.

0530 - view from the room
the pools and the fantastic view from the hotel in palm desert.

0530 - danny & belen
belen with her new #2 favorite person.

0529 - belen y tito
belen with her #1 favorite person.

0529 - belen y papi 2
belen y papi.

0529 - wind turbine
the wind turbine farms on the way to palm desert. i couldn’t believe it, but some of the mountains still had snow at the top.


Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I hope you all have a great three-day weekend! I’m off to Palm Desert for two days to meet up with Danny’s family and spend some relaxing time by the pool. It’s going to be in the 90s to 100s during the day and 60s at night. Sounds PERFECT!

Enjoy the weekend and I’ll catch you on the flip side!

0526 - boogie


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.